Marimo and the Maiden
by TheGodfather93
Summary: Lost in a forest and separated from his crew, Zoro runs into Tashigi in the most unexpected of ways. Pre Sabaody Archipelago.
1. Chapter 1

**Marimo and the Maiden**

**Chapter 1**

The sun shone down heavily upon _Unmei Island_. It was an unusually warm day by Grand Line standards and the island, which was heavily frequented by both pirates and marines alike due to its close proximity to the Sabaody Archibelago, was bustling with life. The many restaurants and bars in town were brimming with people and the numerous shops were quickly being cleared out. However, aside from the busy town there was a more natural side to the island, as half of it was inhabited by woodland.

The port was filled with many ships, ranging from small sailing vessels to large galleys. But one ship stood out above the rest; a medium sized and curiously coloured brig sloop with a lion as its figurehead and a lawn on its deck. Onlookers and passers by gawked, trying to discover who the ship belonged to but found it impossible due to the sails being rolled up.

As for the crew, they were dining in one of the finer restaurants on the island, but the other guests didn't see it like that. At a table in the corner of the restaurant sat a strange group of people. Based on their individual appearances one wouldn't pair them together, but there they were.

In the middle of the table sat a lanky boy with a straw hat hanging by his neck and a big grin on his face. He was devouring meat by the dozen and he appeared to be the most active member of the group.

Beside him sat another lanky male, with a big nose and goggles on his head. He and the straw hat boy appeared to be having an eating contest, but the long nosed boy was failing to keep up with the inhuman speed his opponent was inhaling his food.

On the other side of the Strawhat boy there sat a tanuki with a purple top hat, or at least that's what he looked like to people. He was actually a reindeer, and he was eagerly cheering on his two friends.

Seated a bit further down was an orange haired woman with a frown on her face as she glared at the eating contest, and beside her was an elegant black haired woman who didn't seem to be paying attention to what was going on as she had her nose buried in a book.

In between the two women sat a blond haired man in a suit. He had a lovestruck look on his face and was swooning between the two.

At the end of the table was a large blue haired man in a jacket and a speedo, and a bottle of cola in front of him. He was taking in all the ruckus with a smile on his face.

Beside him sat the strangest person of the lot; a talking, suit clad skeleton with an afro on his head. Even though he had no flesh on his face, one could see that he was laughing at the antics at the table.

"Who in the world are those guys? Can't they see they're bothering us?" said a man at a table on the other side of the room.

His friend responded. "Shut your trap! Those are the Strawhat Pirates!"

"The Strawhat pirates? You mean that rookie crew with a combined bounty of over 700 million beli?"

"Yeah. So if you value your life you'll keep your mouth shut!"

"I see it now. They each look exactly like their bounty pictures! But who the hell is that talking skeleton? And isn't there supposed to be another member of their crew?"

His friend narrowed his eyes as he stared at the Strawhats. "You're right. Where's that green haired demon swordsman. Where's Roronoa Zoro?"

Said swordsman was sitting in the crow's nest of the Thousand Sunny, yawning as he woke up from his nap. He stretched and put his hand over his haramaki, checking to see if his three treasured katana were still there. They were.

"I needed that nap. Guess it's time to go join the other guys at that restaurant."

Zoro dug into his pocket and took out a piece of paper with writing on it. "Those idiots. What makes them think I need directions to the restaurant? I'm not stupid."

He got up and jumped down to the deck. He checked his swords once again and set off into the town, muttering to himself. "I bet it was that damn love cook's idea to give me directions."

Back at the restaurant Sanji sneezed. "Some beautiful lady from my past must be thinking about me."

"Yosh! Listen up everyone!" spoke the captain. "I wanna make another toast to our newest nakama Brook, and to our successful adventure at Thriller Bark."

"Kanpai!" the crew spoke in unison.

The skeleton rose to his feet and picked up his glass. "I want to thank you all for the warm welcome. I look forward to having many more adventures with this crew, and to playing music for you until the day I die! But I'm already dead. Yohohoho, skull joke!"

"Suge! Sing us a song Brook!" said an excited Luffy.

"Hai, let's hear it Brook!" added an equally excited Chopper.

"Yohohoho, if you insist!"

And so the skeleton broke into a more cheerful version of Bink's sake as the Strawhats sang along. Sanji briefly stopped and took a drag from his cigar. "Hn, I bet that baka marimo got lost again."

Hundreds of metres away Zoro sneezed. He looked around and saw he was surrounded by trees. "Kuso! Those idiots gave me the wrong directions. Now where the hell am I?"

He thought to himself. 'If I keep going straight I'll eventually reach the shore. Then I'll follow the coastline until I reach the town.'

With that the swordsman set off further into the forest, and after half an hour of walking he came to a stop. 'Walking in a straight line is getting me nowhere. I guess I'll turn around and go back the way I came.'

Zoro turned around and was about to start walking when he hear a faint but melodic humming coming a few metres away from him. He stopped and listened, before a grin found its way to his face. "Perfect, someone's here. I'll just ask them for directions."

Zoro crept to where he heard the humming, and came across a wide clearing with a small lake in the middle. There was a small group of rocks located beside the lake, upon which an gleaming object shone. Zoro looked closer and saw that that the object was a beautiful sword with a green hilt.

'A swordsman? What luck! Now I can ask him for directions and get a free duel while I'm at it!' Zoro thought.

He was about to enter the clearing when a few more objects caught his eye. On the floor beside the sword lay a floral patterned shirt, black pants, and a pair of glasses.

'Wait a minute, those clothes look familiar- no! It can't be!' Zoro gasped in shock and in his hurry to turn around stepped on a twig, and a large crack was heard.

"Kuso."

_Earlier that day._

On the other half of the island was a port separate from the main one, and a large Marine battleship was docked there. A grand sight it may have looked to the townsfolk, but to its crew members it was a completely different story.

The deck of the battleship was the very definition of chaos, as many marines frantically ran around the place, their faces showing looks of panic. At the head of the ship stood a large well built man. He had two cigars in his mouth, but that didn't hide the large frown he had on his face.

"Listen up everyone!" the large man spoke, and as he did all the marines stopped in their tracks and looked up at him. "Instead of running around like a bunch of headless chickens you should act like proper marines. I know the fridges and ovens broke, and you haven't had a proper meal in days, but that's no excuse to act like a bunch of bastard pirates!"

"Sorry Smoker-taisa." said a red faced marine.

"Yeah, we won't do it next time." added another.

The man now known as Smoker grunted. "That's what I want to hear. Now five of you go into town and buy a new set of everything that's been broken, and another five of you go hire out a restaurant for tonight. Tell them to send the bill to Marine Headquarters. The rest of you stay on the ship. Decide amongst yourselves who will go. And let this be a lesson to you! Use the ship's facilities correctly!"

"Hai Smoker-taisa!" the rest of the marines said in unison, and went about their orders.

"You know Smoker-san, you were the one that broke most of the ship. You shouldn't have de-materialized and gone through the ship's pipes, even if you claimed it was faster way to get to the deck." said a petite, dark haired and bespectacled woman at his side.

"Shut up Tashigi! You've spent the past three days complaining that you couldn't take a proper bath, and now you're telling me off?" Smoker shouted.

"But Smoker-san, if I were to take a bath in the men's bathhouse the perverts on the ship would find a way to spy on me!" Tashigi retorted.

"Whatever! You have an entire island in front of you. Go find somewhere to bathe and get out of my sight! I'll make sure none of the men follow you."

Tashigi bowed graciously. "Arigato Smoker-san! I'll be back before evening."

Tashigi checked that Shigure was at her side, jumped off the ship, and ran into town.

"And stay safe you silly girl. Knowing your luck you're bound to get yourself into trouble. I need a drink." the chain smoker muttered to himself.

And so it was that half an hour later Tashigi found herself before a small lake in the middle of a clearing in the woods. 'There's no one around for miles. This should be good enough.' she thought to herself.

The swordswoman slowly disrobed and placed her clothes and katana by a couple of rocks beside the lake. She slowly entered the water, which was cold at first, but became warm fairly quickly. She sighed contently. 'How I've missed this feeling. I could stay here for hours.'

She submerged beneath the water and began to slowly and carefully clean herself.

Tashigi was underwater when her trained senses picked up something close by. She put her ear just above the surface of the water and was surprised to hear a twig snap, and someone curse in response.

Eyes narrowed, she quickly rose to the surface.

"Who's there?" she called.

**AN:** This is my first fanfic. Feedback and criticism is welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

**Marimo and the Maiden**

**Chapter 2**

Roronoa Zoro stood rooted to the spot as Tashigi rose out of the lake. A blush quickly found its way to his cheeks as he observed her lack of attire. The swordswoman however didn't seem to notice as she glared at the blurry green figure standing by the entrance to the clearing.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she called out.

"Uhm, ahh, no one!" Zoro stammered, unable to get out the words he wanted.

A thousand thoughts were rushing through his head, and he was unable to process them. Here she was, that blasted marine that looked so much like _her_; the very figure that haunted his nightmares from time to time. And she was naked. Zoro was normally in control of emotions, but this time it seemed they had deserted him.

Even though it would seem to most that Zoro isn't interested in women, he is indeed a full blooded male. And while he was not as open about his thoughts of the opposite sex as Sanji was, he was a man, and he found the nude female body arousing.

These somewhat pleasant thoughts collided with the more negative ones in his mind, and the result left him speechless. Perhaps if it was another woman that he saw in the nude he would've reacted better, but it just had to be Tashigi; the woman that was so much like _her_, yet so different. It took him a few moments to compose himself, although to him it seemed like an eternity.

"Mind your own business!" he managed to say.

Tashigi frowned, and opened her mouth to respond, before she noticed what she was wearing. Her cheeks turned red, first in shock, then in anger. "Why you pervert! Stay right there! When I get a hold of you I'll send you straight to Impel Down!" she waded out of the water as quickly as she could and threw a towel she had placed behind the rocks around herself. She quickly picked up Shigure and turned to the edge of the clearing only to find it empty.

"You bastard! Don't think you can hide from me!"

With that she took off into the forest with a speed she didn't know she had.

A few metres away the object of her fury was hiding behind a tree, panting furiously and still red in the face. He heard her calling after him but he didn't respond. He didn't want to face her, but he didn't want to run away either. His legs fought against his inner desires, but his mind prevailed, and he felt as if he had some business he needed to take care of. He was broken from his thoughts when he heard a snap and a loud woosh of air which reminded him of the many times his captain had launched himself up to the crow's nest with his rubber arms.

"Kuso." muttered Tashigi.

She was running after the pervert when she felt her foot fall into a hole, and before she knew it she was hoisted up into the air by a rope, and found herself looking at the trees from behind a net.

'Well at least I'm clothed.' she thought to herself before the blush from her earlier embarrassment returned to her cheeks.

She couldn't believe her misfortune. First she had been seen in the nude by a pervert, in an area which she thought was deserted. Then as she was chasing after the bastard she had fallen into the most simple of traps. And now she sat tight in a net, like a rabbit awaiting his demise. She cursed her bad luck.

Meanwhile, Zoro was debating with himself on what to do. He heard the snap, and he had been in enough situations to know when someone had been caught in a trap. A part of him wanted to leave her, to be rid of her and the thoughts she brings for good. But another part of him wanted to help her, because despite everything, she reminded him so much of his childhood friend. But Roronoa Zoro was not an evil person, and the goodness in his heart prevailed as he stepped out from behind the tree and walked towards the trapped woman.

Tashigi heard the sound of footsteps, and looked up to see the green headed swordmsan come near her net. A brief moment of joy at the thought of being rescued passed her thoughts, before she remembered just who it was that had come. "Oh, it's just you Roronoa." she said as she looked at the pirate hunter.

She spied his stony face, and saw that it was devoid of emotion. "Well, what are you doing here?" she asked him.

Zoro took a moment to respond. "Just out for walk. What's it to you?" he replied, face as emotionless as ever.

"There was a pervert around here a few moments ago. I was chasing after him as I had planned on castrating him," she thought she saw Zoro's eye twitch, but she dismissed it quickly. "You haven't seen him around have you?"

"No, I haven't seen anyone in this forest apart from a couple of birds. What are you doing here?" he looked at her again. "And why are you dressed like that?"

Tashigi blushed again, but quickly composed herself. "I just happened to be taking a bath in the lake when I sensed something was wrong. When I got out of the water I saw a pervert looking at me," she looked at Zoro's face once again, but there was no discernible emotion there, so she continued. "I rushed out of the water and picked up my towel and sword and ran after the bastard, but I ended up getting caught. But I swear on the Marine Employees Handbook, I will find the guy who saw me naked, castrate him and then send him to Impel Down!" she spoke with a fire in her eyes.

"That poor guy." Zoro muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

She looked at his face closely again, but like before she could see no emotions. "So are you going to help me out?"

"Why should I?"

A vein popped in Tashigi's forehead. "Because I said so! I am a marine under the command of Smoker-taisa, and I demand that you get me out of this net!"

"And I am a pirate under Monkey D. Luffy. What makes you think you have the authority to tell me what to do?" Zoro retorted, a slight hint of anger breaking his stony facade.

"Of all the people that I could've asked to help me it just had to be a pirate," the bespectacled woman sighed. "Make no mistake Roronoa! This is as hard for me to ask as it is for you to do, but right now you're the only one that can help me. So will you?" she asked, a slight look of desperation in her eyes.

To her surprise Zoro sat down cross legged in front of her and crossed his arms. "No."

"Then why are you sitting down there?" she demanded, her anger building.

"Because I feel like it." the stony faced swordsman answered.

Tashigi had heard enough. The calm facade she was keeping broke and she lashed out at the pirate. "Curse you! You filthy pirate! I should've expected as much. It's because I'm a woman isn't it?" his eye clearly twitched this time, but she continued her tirade. "It's because I'm a woman that you won't help me, isn't it? You think I'm not good enough to be helped? Well you can go to hell! But not before I take that beautiful Wado Ichimonji from your cursed being!"

That broke the straw for Zoro, and he leapt to his feet, face red in anger. "Who are you to talk about this sword so freely when you have no idea what it means to me?" he shouted. "You sit there and talk about ideals so similar to _hers_, and then you lay claim to _her_most prized possession!"

"What the hell are you talking about Roronoa?" A now startled Tashigi enquired, but Zoro wasn't done with his tirade.

"And to top it all off, you have to look exactly like _her_! It drives me insane!"

"Oh, so this is about one of your old girlfriends looking like me? Grow up Roronoa!" Tashigi spat out with a hint of smugness.

Zoro was now at breaking point. "You couldn't be any more wrong you stupid woman! She was my childhood rival who died before she could even set out to accomplish her dream!" Zoro finished, face crimson with rage.

All the anger faded from Tashigi's face as her mouth opened in shock. "I'm sorry." she said softly.

"It's ok, you didn't know." said a now calm but still slightly red faced Zoro.

He sat down cross legged on the grass again, and for a while neither of them spoke, until Tashigi broke the silence. "Tell me about her."

The swordsman hesitated for a second, but gave in to her request. "Her name was Kuina. She was the daughter of my sensei," he looked at Tashigi who was silent, a sign for him to continue. "She was the only person I could never beat. We dueled 2001 times and she won every single time."

The dark haired woman's eyes widened, before she found her voice again. "She sounds like a great person."

"She was. And she was like you in so many ways, which is why it's hard for me to even look at you."

Tashigi was now very curious, and decided to ask the question that had been bothering her the most. "What happened to her?"

Zoro too a deep breath. He knew he would be asked this question ever since he had resolved to tell her about Kuina, but that didn't mean he was looking forward to it. "I challenged her to a duel with real swords and lost badly. But she believed that because she was a woman she would eventually grow weaker and lose to me in strength, and be forced to give up the life of a swordsman. That's what she was told by her father."

Tashigi's eyes narrowed and a frown found its way to her face. "That sexist bastard! How dare he!" she shouted.

Zoro stared at her curiously, and she blushed from embarrassment. "I'm sorry. Please continue."

The swordsman nodded and resumed his story. "When she told me that it pissed me off, and I told her that it's willpower, not strength, that makes a swordsman, and that if I surpassed her one day it would be because of my own skill. After that we promised each other than some day one of us would become the world's strongest swordsman," Zoro sighed. "The next day she fell down the stairs and died."

Tashigi gasped and put her hand over mouth. "That's awful. I'm so sorry." she said softly.

"It's ok. After it happened I asked her father if I could have her sword, Wado Ichimonji, so that I could fulfil our shared promise. But even if I do become the strongest swordsman in the world, she will always remain the only person I failed to beat." he said dejectedly.

The bespectacled woman looked at him with a newfound respect. "That's a very noble thing you did. And I'm sorry for thinking you were just another horrible pirate."

"It's ok."

She looked at him for a moment, before her voice became stern once again. "I respect your promise, but I won't give up trying to take those meito from you!" she paused for impact. "I am my own woman and I have my own goal, which is to take back the meito from all the pirates in the world! And nice guy or not, you're still a pirate!"

She looked at him for a reaction, but didn't get any. "What do you have to say to that?" she said with an air of authority.

Zoro just looked at her calmly. "I don't care. You have your own goals and I respect that." he looked up at her with a smug grin. "But that doesn't mean you'll ever take my swords."

A vein throbbed in the swordswoman's forehead and her eyes once again narrowed in anger. "Why, you! I was wrong about you! You're just another typical pirate!" she shouted.

Zoro laughed at her outburst, so she continued her shouting. "Damn you Roronoa you egotistical bastard! I challenge you to a duel!"

The Santoryuu user stopped laughing and stroked his chin as if he was deep in thought. "Hmm, I suppose I can give you that much." he replied.

The anger left Tashigi's face and her eyes widened in happiness reminiscent of a child's. "Really? You have no idea how long I've waited for this!" she said excitedly.

Zoro just grunted. A silence passed between them for a while, and Tashigi, once again growing irritated, decided to break it. "Roronoa?"

"Hmm?"

"Why am I still in this net?!"

**AN:** I'm not super pleased with how this chapter turned out. I knew it would be longer than my previous chapter but I didn't expect it to be this dialogue heavy. The dialogue itself was a pain in the ass to write too. I tried to keep it in character and didn't want to make it too angsty and melodramatic (I hate that stuff), as well as keep some of the traditional One Piece humour, but it wasn't easy trying to write these two characters in this situation. But in the end I think I did a decent job.

Also, I'm never going to be the type of author who demands an x number of reviews before they post the next chapter. That's cheap. But I would really appreciate some feedback, especially since this is my first fanfic. Thanks to PinkWhalePJs for the review. This is one of my favourite pairings and it sucks that there aren't more Zoro x Tashigi stories on the site. And thanks to everyone who followed my story. You guys are awesome.


	3. Chapter 3

**Marimo and the Maiden**

**Chapter 3**

Tashigi scowled as she watched a slightly red faced Roronoa Zoro mumble an apology from his cross legged position on the ground. The swordsman then rose to his feet, and with a quick draw of Wado Ichimonji cut the ropes binding the marine. Tashigi dropped to the ground and landed right on her backside. With a wince of pain she looked up at Zoro, the scowl on her face intensified.

"Be more careful next time you idiot!" she shouted.

The still red faced swordsman apologized once again. "Sorry. It was an accident."

Tashigi grumbled to herself but got up nonetheless, Shigure in her hand.

She stepped a few metres away from the swordsman then turned to face him, her katana gleaming brightly as he held in front of her. Zoro just looked at her strangely. "What?" the swordswoman asked impatiently.

"Are you really planning to fight in that?" he asked, pointing to the towel that was covering her body.

Tashigi blushed. "Well I don't have very many clothing options here do I?" she retorted. "Unless you'd rather have me fight naked?"

Now it was Zoro's turn to blush, as the memory of Tashigi rising out of the lake flashed back into his mind. "No! The towel's fine!" he said nervously.

Tashigi nodded, a smirk coming onto her face. "Good, that's what I thought. Now shall we begin?"

The pirate hunter complied by sheathing Wado Ichimonji from its sheath and held it in front of him as he got into an ittoryuu stance; an action which bothered the swordswoman. "Aren't you going to use your other two swords?" she enquired.

Zoro smirked "I'll use them when you make me feel the need to use them."

Tashigi frowned.

"Bastard! You'll pay for underestimating me!"

With that she lifted Shigure above her head and charged at her opponent. She went for a downward strike only to have it blocked effortlessly. Zoro, still smirking, was now a couple of inches away from her face. "Is that the best you've got?"

Tashigi's eyes narrowed as she jumped backwards, then once she had made some space for herself, lunged forward with a stab. It too was parried away with ease.

"If you want to make me use my other two swords you're gonna have to do better than that!" the swordsman teased.

With a yell of ferocity Tashigi drew back and attacked again, this time with a series of slashes, strikes, and stabs. And just like before, they were all parried away effortlessly. She fell back once again and glared at her green haired opponent. "Are you even taking this seriously? Why don't you fight back you coward!" she shouted.

Zoro gripped his sword harder and ran at her, only to seemingly disappear from sight. On instinct Tashigi lowered Shigure and parried away at the thin air.

A clang of steel rang out through the air as the pirate swordsman appeared in front of her; Wado Ichimonji held at bay by Shigure. Tashigi had blocked Zoro's attack, but she couldn't avoid the shockwave that came from it as she was thrown backwards and landed on the grass.

"That's why." said a now serious Zoro.

The swordswoman was shocked. 'To be thrown back by a simple slash? Just how powerful has he gotten since Alabasta? Do I have what it takes to beat him?'

Not one to give up, Tashigi shook these thoughts from her head and quickly jumped to her feet. "That's more like it! Give me your all!" she shouted as she charged at the pirate, who in response charged back at her.

Their swords met with another clang, and they went on to exchange a series of blows. This went on for a while until Tashigi felt herself being pushed back as his superior skill, strength and stamina began to show.

Sensing her weakening, Zoro decided to finish the duel. Jumping back from a panting Tashigi, he held his sword above his right shoulder and performed a circular swing. "Sanjoroku Pound Ho!" A projectile of compressed air flew right at Tashigi and hit her square in the chest. She flew backwards and hit the ground, Shigure falling from her grasp.

Zoro sheathed Wado Ichimonji and walked towards the marine, who was panting heavily, eyes wide as saucers. He put out his hand, which she took without hesitation, and helped her to her feet. Picking up Shigure she looked at the victor. "You fought well Roronoa." she said.

"So did you."

The bespectacled woman sighed dejectedly. "No, I was beaten comprehensively. I could even tell you were holding back with that last attack," Zoro stood silent. "I now realize how big the rift is between us. You are improving your skills at an incredible rate while I'm going at the pace of a snail."

"Don't say that," the Santoryuu user said. "Had you gone through half the amount of crazy shit I went through since entering the Grand Line you would've improved a lot too."

Tashigi chuckled, and remembered all the farfetched stories she'd heard about the Strawhats since they left Alabasta. "Maybe you're right. But still, how am I ever going to improve if all I'm doing is lazing around on Smoker-taisa's ship?

Zoro though about what she said for a moment before replying. "Maybe you need more motivation. You said you wanted to take back the Meito from all pirates, right?" she nodded. "The maybe you should find another thing to help motivate you. Like someone you want to surpass."

The Marine's eyes widened as an idea came to her head, and with those gleaming eyes she looked at the pirate. "Roronoa, you're a genius! I now have someone I want to surpass." Zoro smirked, seeing that his idea worked.

"The person I want to surpass is you!" Tashigi said as the smirk fell from Zoro's face and wasreplaced with a look of shock.

"Me?" he pointed to himself.

"Yes!" the swordswoman said with conviction. "If I want to take back the Meito from all the pirates in the world I will need to surpass you Roronoa Zoro, and that's what I'm going to do!"

Zoro was shocked, but the smirk returned to his face. "That's a pretty tall order. After all, I'm going to be the strongest swordsman in the world."

"Then I too will be the strongest swordsman in the world!"

For a second Zoro thought he saw Kuina standing before him. His smirk turned into a smile. "Good luck."

"Arigato! Know now that the next time you see me I'll be a captain of the Marines!" she went to step forward but the wear and tear from their duel had finally shown itself, and the towel she was wearing slipped from her body.

Tashigi shrieked and bent down to pick it up, but saw that Zoro had his back turned to her.

"Go get your clothes and your sheath," he said coolly. "I look forward to our next duel... Tashigi-taisa." with that the Strawhats' swordsman left the area and disappeared into the forest.

The red faced Tashigi was shocked, but managed to find her voice before he disappeared. "A-arigato, Zoro-san."

When he had walked what he deemed was a safe distance away the cool faced swordsman put his hands to his face as a huge nosebleed swept him off his feet. As he lay on the grass he pondered what had happened in the past hour or so, and once he had calmed down a slight blush found its way to his cheeks.

However, the happy thoughts he was having were quickly dashed from his mind when he heard a faint explosion in the distance.

_A few moments earlier.  
_  
The Strawhat pirates had finished their celebrations at the restaurant and were now exploring the market district of _Unmei Island_.

Luffy and Nami were checking out the island's main attractions while Nami took notes about its geography. Robin was helping Chopper search for the latest medicine books in one of the island's many bookshops.

Usopp and Franky were bartering with a shopkeeper for some spare ship parts and interesting gadgets they had come across.

Sanji was scouring the place for some unique and rare herbs he had heard about.

Brook was on the corner on one of the island's busiest streets; playing a beautiful melody while entranced onlookers and admirers put beli into the skeleton's top hat which had been set on the floor.

"Naaaami, I'm hungry!" whined a dejected Monkey D. Luffy.

The orange haired navigator scowled. "Baka, we just left the restaurant a few minutes ago!"

"Yeah, but they ran out of food and I didn't have enough to eat!"

Nami sighed. She knew that he would keep pestering her until she listened to it. Mumbling to herself she pulled out here purse.

"Here you go," she said as she handed him a couple of beli notes. "There's enough there for a few pieces of meat. Now go feed that bottomless pit you call a stomach. I still have some notes to get down."

"Yosh! Arigato Nami. You're the best!"

With that the energetic rubber boy bounded off into the crowd.

Nami shook her head as a small smile found its way to her face.

Meanwhile, an excited Luffy was running around the market district looking for a meat vendor. Eventually he spotted a nice, simple looking wooden bar with a couple of stools, and a balding old man standing behind a counter barbecuing some meat. Happy to have found what he was looking for, Luffy ran up to the meat vendor and took a seat beside a very large man who had his unseen face buried in a newspaper.

"Oy, meat-ossan!" he called to the old man behind the counter. "Give me as much meat as you can with this much beli!" he waved the money Nami gave him and the old man came and took it.

"Certainly young man."

While he went off to get the meat Luffy turned to the large man sitting beside him. He was wearing dark pants and an unzipped white jacket, exposing his muscular torso, but his face remained hidden behind the newspaper. "Nice day isn't it ossan?" Luffy asked.

The large man just grunted in response.

"I'm here with my nakama celebrating our latest successful adventure." the Strawhat added.

This got the large man's attention. "Adventure?" he said in a deep voice. "What are you, treasure hunters?"

"No, we're pirates."

The large man lowered his newspaper and glared at Luffy, who's eyes widened as he let out a scream. "Ahh, it's the smoky-ossan!"

"Mugiwara!" a stunned Smoker shouted.

Luffy jumped from his seat, but not before stretching out his arm and grabbing the meat the old man has behind the counter, and ran into the crowd. Smoker dematerialized and hurried after him.

"You're not getting away this time Mugiwara!"

The chase had gone on for a while, and most of the island was now panicking. Word has spread of a furious ghost chasing after an extremely flexible boy, and the islanders were trying to avoid them. More marines kept joining the chase, and eventually Luffy had a small army chasing after him, their misty leader at their head.

"Half of you go to the docks! Make sure the Mugiwaras' ship doesn't leave this island" Smoker shouted, and the Marines complied.

The Marines turned a corner, only to come flying back violently, as if they were blown away by a massive fan.

"What the hell?" Smoker inquired as a blonde haired suit clad man emerged from the corner.

Sanji took a drag from his cigarette as he observed the situation. "Oi shitty captain, why am I not surprised you got the marines on our asses again."

"Sanji!" Luffy shouted. "Find the others and tell them to get to the ship!"

"I already did you dumbass! We're just waiting on you and the marimo!"

Suddenly a great ball of smoke exploded at Smoker's feet. "What the! This isn't mine!" Smoker said in surprise.

"The great Captain Usopp-sama to the rescue!" came a heroic voice from a nearby rooftop, as Usopp stepped into view.

"Sugeee!" Luffy cried.

"Luffy!" shouted the sharpshooter. "Hurry up and get away while I have him distracted with my new smoke bomb. Ha! He won't know what hit him!"

Without any hesitation the three Strawhats ran towards the docks while Smoker tried to get his bearings. "What the fuck! How can I be distracted by smoke? I am smoke goddamnit!" he shouted furiously.

"Smoooooooker-san!" an ever loudening voice called. "Smoker-san!" Tashigi cried as she finally reached her superior, who was only just starting to regain his composure.

"Tashigi! The Strawhats are here! We have to go after the bastards!" he bellowed; his eyes red with fury.

"I know! I managed to tell the guys on the ship to get it moving so we can trap them in the port! We managed to get some of the new stuff installed pretty quickly!"

"Excellent job! Now let's get to the ship! I left my jutte on there!" with that Smoker picked up the swordswoman with one arm, dematerialized most of his body, and hurried to his ship.

Meanwhile Luffy, Sanji and Usopp were running through the streets, getting ever closer to the Thousand Sunny.

They halted when they heard battle cries in one of the side streets in front of them. When they looked past the corner they saw a pissed off looking Zoro; Sandai Kitetsu in his hand and a circle of marines on the floor around him.

"What the hell is going on?" the swordsman said at his nakama. "I was on my way to the ship when these Marines attacked me."

"Hn, about time you got here marimo. The shitty captain ran into that Smoker bastard." a smug looking Sanji replied.

"What'd you call me you ero-cook?"

"Guys we don't have time for this!" interrupted a panicked Usopp. "We have to get back to the ship!"

Their argument temporarily diffused, the four Strawhats ran towards the direction of the port, until finally the sea came into their vision. Amongst the many masts and sails they could spot their own jolly roger, which was slowly leaving the island as a large marine battleship encroached into view.

"Shit, we'll never make it!" cried Usopp.

Luffy laughed as he stopped running. "Hold on guys, I'll get us there!" he stretched his arms out to two buildings on opposite sides of the street.

"Wait, what's he planning?" inquired a slightly nervous Zoro.

Luffy, arms now grabbing onto the buildings, began to draw himself back.

"Oh shit!" Sanji shouted, as Luffy's plan was revealed to them.

"Nooooooo!" a teary Usopp wailed as a laughing Luffy launched himself at his nakama, grabbing them in his wide arms as they went sailing like a cannonball and crashed onto the deck of the Sunny, right in front of Nico Robin.

"There you guys are," she said. "I thought you'd gotten captured and beheaded."

"Robin! How could you say something like that?" cried a teary Chopper as he ran to embrace his nakama.

"No time for arguing guys, we got cannonballs incoming!" Franky shouted from the doorway. "Get rid of them and I can get us out of here!"

Zoro and Sanji simultaneously rose.

"I got this."

"Sit your ass back down baka love cook, they're mine!"

"You're both bakas!" cried a hysterical Nami from the crow's nest.

"Gomu Gomu no Fusen!" the crew looked to see Luffy inflate to the size of a balloon while three cannonballs rapidly approached them.

The first one rebounded off Luffy and fell harmlessly into the water. The second one was swiftly sliced in half by a now airborne Zoro; Shuusui in his hand.

"There's still one more!" shouted Nami.

Sanji jumped up into the third cannonball's path. "Take this you son of a bitch." he muttered as he sent the cannonball back to the Marine battleship with an almighty kick.

"Great job guys!" Franky called from inside the Sunny. "Now get ready! Coup de Burst!"

With that the Thousand Sunny blasted into the air and flew into the distance, a loud "yohohoho" fading with the ship.

Meanwhile, the Marines on Smoker's ship stared wide eyed as the Strawhats' ship flew into the air.

"Run for your lives! It's the Flying Dutchman!" cried a hysterical marine.

"Shut up!" Smoker shouted. "After them men!"

In a scene reminiscent of the one earlier that day the Marines scrambled around the ship, with only a few of them composed enough to follow their orders.

"Smoker-taisa!" yelled one Marine who had just run up to Smoker, a den den mushi in his hands. "You have a call from headquarters!"

"If it's about the ship repair costs tell them they can go to hell!"

"No sir, it's not that!" cried the frightened Marine.

"What is it then?"

"Portgas D. Ace's execution date has been set! You and the other captains are requested at Marineford Headquarters as soon as possible!"

As the logia user processed the information his face took on a steely look. "Very well," he said. "Turn the ship around and go back to the island. Looks like you guys'll get to go to that restaurant tonight after all."

The Marines rejoiced and cried out. "Hooray!"

"Shut up!" Smoker bellowed, as the now frightened marines rushed to their tasks.

"So where were you?" Smoker asked as he turned to Tashigi.

"Taking a bath at a lake." muttered the swordswoman.

"Anything interesting happen?"

The bespectacled woman's face turned bright red, both in anger and embarrassment, and she clenched her fists. "I caught a pervert spying on me."

"Who was it?" asked the still steely faced Smoker.

A vein popped in Tashigi's forehead. "I didn't see him properly. I wasn't wearing my glasses."

"Well then what did you see?"

Tashigi thought for a second as she remembered the embarrassing moment. "There was something green and fuzzy. I think it was hair." Smoker looked at her curiously.

"There was also a lot of white with a hint of green. Oh and there was a shining... "Tashigi paused as a picture of a very familiar swordsman came into her head.

Her cheeks turned an entirely new shade of scarlet and she started shaking. The embarrassment soon faded, and a red hot rage replaced it, and some of the weaker willer marines nearly fainted from the murderous aura being emitted from the swordswoman. Smoker just took the whole situation in with a curious look on his face, as Tashigi stopped shaking and let out a mighty bellow that shattered all the windows on _Unmei Island._

"RORONOA ZORO! I WILL FIND YOU, AND I WILL KILL YOU!"

A few marines fainted, others ran to cover, and some jumped overboard. Tashigi paid them no heed as she stormed into the ship. Smoker looked towards Sabaody Archipelago in the distance.

"Portgas eh?" he muttered to himself. "If I know Mugiwara he'll find a way to get involved, and that's where I'll catch him."

Meanwhile on the Thousand Sunny a sneeze woke Zoro up from his nap on the deck, and Sanji walked up to him.

"So where were you?" inquired the cook.

"None of your business." replied the swordsman as he went back to sleep.

**AN:** So comes the end of my first fanfic. This was the first fight scene I wrote and I think I did a pretty good job making it realistic and in character. The latter half of this chapter was a pain in the ass to do though, as I had to picture all the action I was writing actually happening, while trying to not make it drag on.

Arnazz, thank you for reviewing. In response to what you said, I actually looked up the differences between taisa and taicho before writing this. Taisa refers to the captain or commander of a navy ship while taicho refers to a captain in a military force.

With that being said, I have something to tell you guys. I actually submitted this story in One Piece Bay's fanfiction contest. It's a great site, very similar to Narutobase, where you can discuss One Piece with other fans of the show. In addition to that, you can watch the anime and read the manga, as well as take part in a variety of contests. So if you're a fan of One Piece I recommend you sign up, introduce yourself in the Ahoy! section, and mention that Hiko Seijuro (my OPB username) sent you!

Finally, I want to thank everyone who read this fanfic. Please leave a review, and if you have any story suggestions feel free to put them in the review or PM me. Until next time!


End file.
